Lecture Notes - the Collapse of Imperial China (1895 – 1912) - History of International Politics (East Asia Focus)

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Lecture 3 - Lecture Notes - The Collapse of Imperial China (1895 – 1912) - History of International Politics (East Asia focus)

Course Leader: Dr. Senan James Fox Telephone number: 264 -5764 Email Address: [email protected] Room: Room 309 (General Education Hall - GEH) Consultation Times: Please email Senan Fox in advance if you wish to meet to discuss your work and studies.

NOTE: The following lecture notes are largely based on the class textbook – Warren Cohen (2000), ‘East Asia at the Center – Four Thousand Years of Engagement with the World’, New York: Columbia University Press.

Lecture Title: The Collapse of Imperial China (1895 – 1912)

China at the End of the 1800s

Qing China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 and the humiliation of the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 represented the end of China’s centuries-long position as East Asia’s number one power. In the early 1900s, the Qing Chinese struggled to keep China together and intact after the Western powers and the Japanese began ‘slicing the Chinese melon’ (taking control of key Chinese territories and cities and forming spheres of influence). The presence of foreigners and their military forces on Chinese soil and in Chinese waters, particularly along China’s eastern coast, was an added humiliation. The Qing Empire was replaced by states such as Japan and France as the dominant powers in areas once considered as China’s sphere of influence. Examples included Korea and Vietnam. The tributary system, which saw China as the central power and hegemon in East Asia, had been destroyed.

From the end of the Sino-Japanese War in 1895 until 1900, fierce debates and discussions took place between Chinese intellectuals, officials, and educated citizens who were informed about the rise of Japan and the power of the West over how to prevent China’s complete collapse under the weight of foreign power. Without urgent and substantive change, they feared that their country would soon become a western (or Japanese) colony just like India had become under British rule. In 1895, 1200 of China’s brightest young intellectuals, led by the scholarly reformer Kang Youwei (1858 – 1927) signed a petition calling on the Qing authorities to embark on a course of comprehensive reforms. They also asked Peking to reject the terms of the despised Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895 forced upon them by the Japanese. Their petition included calls to strengthen the weakened Chinese dragon via the building of a modern railway system, a modern army, a first-rate financial system, the creation of first-world standards of food production, and all the other key characteristics of a modern and powerful state. Corrupt and conservative-minded members of the Qing court however, whose first priority was preserving their own power and wealth, provided no positive response to the petition. Other Chinese figures such as the Western-educated revolutionary nationalist Sun Yat-sen (1866 -1925) had tried

1 unsuccessfully to violently overthrow the Qing regime in October 1895. As the disintegration of the Qing Empire appeared imminent in the late 1800s, the young pro-reform Chinese Emperor, Guangxu (who reigned from 1875 until his death in 1908), was eager to present himself as a strong leader in China’s time of need. He summoned Kang Youwei to the Chinese capital to discuss plans to commence reforms as soon as possible. Despite being the Emperor, Guangxu’s position was undermined by his aunt, Cixi, who remained the most powerful influence and figure within the Qing court.

The ‘Hundred Days of Reform’ (June 11th to September 21st 1898) aimed to address China’s weaknesses through the immediate implementation of major changes to the country’s military, bureaucratic, economic, educational, and political systems. The drive to implement these changes however caused deep concern amongst conservative Qing elites. They therefore rallied around Cixi. She also feared the implications for her own position should the reforms be carried out. When the pro-reformers learned that Cixi was possibly planning a coup d’etat within the Qing court, they chose to act pre-emptively by calling on Yuan Shikai (1859 – 1916) to use his power as head of the Chinese army to neutralize any possible resistance by forces loyal to Cixi. This strategy backfired however when Yuan betrayed the pro-reformers by telling Cixi about the plan. Cixi responded ruthlessly by putting the young emperor under house arrest, and executing a number of his advisers as a warning to others. Kang Youwei fled Qing China. With Cixi firmly back in power, all of Guangxu’s pro-reform attempts and legal edicts were rescinded. China’s problems however continued especially in northern China where foreign powers and disgruntled Chinese both threatened the stability of the country and the Qing court’s ability to exercise authority.

The Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901)

In 1898, an intensely anti-foreign and secretive proto-nationalist movement began to develop in Shandong province. Members of this group were referred to as the Boxers (‘the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists’). Foreigners in China named them ‘Boxers’ because of their skills in martial arts and because of their physical fitness. The Boxers also had a superstitious belief in their invulnerability against attack. In a short period of time, the Boxers started to carry out increasingly widespread and violent attacks on foreigners, in particular Christian missionaries and Chinese converts. At first, Cixi and the Qing court remained cautiously ambivalent about the Boxers. On one hand, the movement could prove useful as a force to weaken and perhaps drive out the foreign presence in China. On the other hand, they also know that in the past secret societies had wrecked havoc in China (note for example the Taiping Rebellion in the mid-1800s) and that in the future the Boxers might try to topple the Qing regime. At the turn of the twentieth century (late 1800s – early 1900s) however, Cixi was desperate to address China’s problems while simultaneously preserving her own power as head of the Qing Empire. She therefore decided initially to secretly support the Boxers and to hope that their activities were successful.

2 With attacks on foreigners rising, the governments of the West demanded in vain that Peking do more to protect Christian missionaries and their Chinese converts. At times Cixi took action to do as the Westerners requested. In general however the Qing court did very little to help the foreigners who were under threat in China. As the Boxers experienced successes against the foreign presence in places such as Shandong and Shanxi, the Qing court started to believe that perhaps the Boxers could drive the foreigners out of China. Cixi then ordered the Qing army to support the Boxers and also declared war on the foreign powers. By June 1900, the Boxer Rebellion had spread to Peking and Tianjin and numerous locations between the two cities. Some local Qing officials tried to restrict the Boxers’ ability to spill blood while others spurred them on. Foreigners rushed to enter the safety of the foreign area within China’s capital. As a first response, Western powers tried to send reinforcements to the foreign legation quarter in Peking. The Boxers however decimated the foreign troops trying to enter the capital and destroyed the railway lines so that assistance for the besieged foreign community could not arrive by train.

The legation quarter was now under siege by hostile Chinese forces who wanted to kill all foreigners. Faced with constant attack, the foreigners had to defend their area against the Boxers and Qing soldiers and hope that help would arrive from the outside world. In Shanxi province, the governor promised Christian missionary families in the area that they would be safe if they accepted his protection. Shortly afterwards however, the governor allowed them to be executed (see the Taiyuan Massacre). The massacre of Christian men, women, and children caused outrage in Europe and North America. Chinese converts were also murdered elsewhere, and Christian buildings and living areas were attacked and desecrated. This situation lasted for about two months. In the West and in Japan, the public eagerly followed the progress of a united force of 45,000 international troops (the Eight-Nation Alliance) from Europe, the US, and Japan. This force landed in Tianjin in August 1900 and then fought against the anti-foreign forces in the hope of reaching Peking to save the people in the foreign legations from death.

With a large number of vengeful foreign troops on Chinese soil, the Americans feared that their policy of keeping China open and shared by a number of states (see the ‘Open Door’ policy) might be destroyed. They also believed that the Japanese, and the Russians in particular, would exploit the Boxer Rebellion to later make more demands to claim larger areas of China and to ask for more concessions. This outcome would threaten US interests in China and its ‘Open Door” policy. In July 1900, the US Secretary of State, John Hay, sent a message to all the foreign powers with interests in China calling on them to preserve ‘the territorial and administrative entity of China.’ For their own purposes, the Americans argued (contrary to the truth) that the Boxer Rebellion had broken out spontaneously and without the approval or assistance of the Qing authorities in Peking. Under American guidance and through the use of powerful local rulers throughout China, the foreign forces succeeded in restricting the rebellion to northern China. Powerful leaders in different parts of the country also began to help to protect the foreign community and their property. This resulted in keeping China unified and in preventing foreign powers from advancing outside of northern China. The country had been saved from partition and complete control by foreign countries as a result of the US’ intervention (this policy benefitted the US’ own national interests). In 1900, the other foreign powers agreed to the American proposal and to focus on defeating the Boxer Rebellion. They agreed to this

3 not because they were afraid of the United States but because it was a common sense approach and because they did not trust some of the other powers if rules were not agreed to. For example, there was a deep distrust of Russia’s intentions in China.

In August 1900, the eight-nation alliance succeeded in rescuing the residents of the foreign legation in Peking and ended the nearly two month-long siege of the area (from June 20th until August 14th 1900). The foreign soldiers also looted the city and ransacked the Forbidden City. Cixi, who had supported the Boxers, escaped from Peking and took refuge in Xian. Afterwards however the foreign powers persuaded Cixi to return to Peking in January 1902 to resume her position of power. Their reason for this was that they believed that a weak Qing regime was better that anti-foreign chaos and disorder if no government existed. In September 1901, the Qing court (with Li Hongzhang as chief negotiator) and the foreign powers signed the Boxer Protocol which marked the end of the Boxer Rebellion. The conditions of the protocol demanded that the Chinese pay a crippling indemnity to the foreign powers as punishment and as compensation. One consequence of the indemnity was that China was further handicapped in its ability to modernize and for the Qing regime to govern the country effectively. Another clause of the protocol permitted the foreign powers to station their soldiers in areas between Peking and the Chinese coast. In terms of territory however the Qing empire was saved from dismemberment.

Cixi accepts Reform

In the years immediately after the Boxer Rebellion, Cixi, who died in 1908, finally accepted that major reforms were needed if Qing China was going to survive. She therefore supported a program of modernization in all the major areas of Chinese life, especially in the fields of science and education. The traditional examination system, which focused on Confucian values and principles, was abolished. Western studies were emphasized and thousands of Chinese students traveled abroad, in particular to Japan, to learn about the modern world. The Chinese army was reformed and modeled along western and Japanese lines. There were also assurances that the Qing court would help to write a constitution for China as well as to build a national parliament. The push for reform developed as a result of a realization that without change, the Qing regime was certain to collapse. The key question for Cixi and the Qing court in the years after the Boxer Rebellion was whether or not they had enough time to hold off the growing demand for the end of the imperial system, and to successfully challenge the rising anti-Qing sentiment in China.

Chinese Nationalism and the early years of the Chinese Republic

The ideology of nationalism grew in strength and popularity as a political force throughout the world in the 1800s after the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Nationalist groups from every background became more effective political organizations in this period. For example the Chinese, the Germans, the Irish, the Italians, the Jewish community, the former Spanish colonies of South America etc.. The development of nationalist groups often occurred alongside the major changes experienced by nationalities in this era. For example, the creation of railway systems, national newspapers, advances in education, a more powerful and educated middle- class, and the reading of more numerous nationalist and political books, all helped to

4 create a greater sense of nationhood and to emphasize common traits and histories amongst people. As a result of these social changes, there was also a more informed awareness of ideas, changes, and events in the outside world. For example, there was a greater dissemination of ideas regarding equality, liberty, democracy, and revolts against colonial rule. Chinese nationalism (predominantly anti-Qing Han Chinese nationalism at first) developed as a powerful political force in the late 1800s under the influence of key nationalist figures such as Sun Yat-sen who is regarded as the ‘Father of the Nation.’

One of the first examples of Chinese nationalist action included the 1905 boycott of American products in China. This was a largely student-organized boycott, which developed after Chinese students became outraged by media reports of anti-Asian racism against Chinese immigrants to the US in the early 1900s. The boycott was not created by strong anti-American sentiment per se but was largely influenced by a desire to emphasize Chinese pride and dignity. These students felt encouraged by Japan’s victory against Russia in the Sino-Japanese War and its symbolism as a war where a non-white and Asian power had defeated a white European power. Even though the Qing authorities refused to endorse the boycott (because of the lessons learned from the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), Washington nonetheless requested that Peking put an end to the boycott. Fortunately for the Qing court, the boycott petered out by the autumn of 1905. The boycott had failed but it symbolized the advent of a new nationalist movement in China that could no longer be easily ignored. Another important component of the burgeoning Chinese nationalist movement in the early 1900s was the so-called ‘railway rights protection’ campaign (1904 – 1907), which focused around the issue of wrestling control of the building and operation of China’s railway network from foreigners. As with the boycott of 1905, the campaign failed to secure its objectives but did succeed in arousing nationalist sentiment in a period of national awakening. As Cohen points out, ‘New forces in China raced along several tracks, each pointing toward the creation of a modern nation-state, exercising sovereignty within its borders. The Qing court might hope to lead the race; it could not pull back on the reins. It was forced to move toward constitutional government as its only hope of preserving the dynasty. But the court could not move quickly enough and the promise of a constitutional monarchy was no longer sufficient to satisfy its critics.’(Cohen, 2000:312).

Amongst these forces, Sun Yat-sen’s declared objective was to forcefully topple the Qing regime, to replace it with a republican government, and then to commence the major reforms needed to modernize China. His militant efforts to bring down the Qing system however continued to be unsuccessful, including a failed uprising in Guangzhou in April 1911. Ultimately, it was the re-igniting of the ‘railway rights protection’ issue, which started the chain of events that caused the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution (October 1911 – February 1912) and resulted in the end of the imperial system in China. Under the rules of the Boxer Protocol, the Qing government had to pay a huge indemnity to foreign powers and was under great pressure to find money. One option was to place privately-owned and locally-controlled railways under central government control (nationalization) and then hand over control of the railway line to foreign companies who could make a profit from them. When a dispute arose after May 1911 over railway lines between Sichuan and Guangdong, the anger amongst local Chinese residents resulted in protests and demonstrations throughout southern China. A military revolt against Qing rule broke out when

5 Peking ordered its forces into Sichuan to stamp out the protests in August 1911. Within a matter of months, a full-scale military revolt against the Qing regime had spread throughout southern China. The Qing authorities, overstretched and short of funds, could not successfully challenge numerically superior anti-government forces and thus could no longer govern the country. Amid the chaos and disorder of the rebellion, the Qing Court desperately looked for ways to defeat the various rebel forces. In a frantic effort, Peking requested that the Chinese general Yuan Shikai come out of retirement to command an army to quash the revolt in southern China. Yuan manipulated the situation to reinforce his own power in China. He was also nominated as the Prime Minister of a new Imperial cabinet government, which was supported by the Qing court. Yuan utilized the modern Beiyang Army (which had developed during the Self-Strengthening Movement – 1861-1895) to first quash a rebellion in Wuchang. In the meantime, the exiled Sun Yat-sen saw the opportunity to return to China from exile in December 1911 to set up a provisional government. He also hoped to defend the country from future foreign intervention by presenting a picture of national unity to the outside world. As the symbolic ‘father’ of the revolutionary nationalist movement in China, Sun was elected president of the new government in January 1912. However everyone knew that the real power in China rested with Yuan Shikai. Sun was fearful that if Yuan was not respected and rewarded then there could be a serious split in the new government. Yuan played a key role in negotiating the abdication of the last Qing emperor, Pu Yi, (reigned from December 2nd 1908 until February 12th 1912). In March 1912, Sun offered the role of President to Yuan Shikai. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and millenia of imperial rule in China had come to an end.

Key Points:

• The defeat of the Boxer Rebellion and the huge indemnity, which Qing China had to pay to foreign states, had a very negative effect on the Qing regime’s ability to govern and to fund itself. Peking was forced to agree to another humiliating treaty, the Boxer Protocol.

• After initially obstructing attempts to reform, Cixi (who died in 1908) and the Qing court accepted (after 1901) that major changes were need to save the Qing imperial system. They did not have enough time however to implement the necessary changes.

• The growth in nationalist movements and a rise in nationalist sentiment contributed to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in late 1911 and early 1912.

• In the years from 1912 and 1928, internal divisions and rivalries were a major obstacle to unifying and stabilizing China. This was particularly true during the Age of the Warlords. Foreign powers such as Japan in particular took advantage of these divisions (for example, the Japan and ‘Twenty-One Demands’ in 1915).